Chapter 2
Disclaimer: You know the drill. This world is J.K. Rowling’s, yadda yadda yadda, Elle’s mine. So is Kevin.
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Elle Donovan bent down to pick up the mail scattered by the door and was thwacked on the head by a small packet. She let out a mutter and glared at the merlin staring through the mail slot. It blinked, turned around, and flew away. She picked up the packet and threw the entire bundle on the nearest table. “Got another brochure for a school.”
“Do what you want with it, Elle,” her mother replied from the kitchen.
The picture on the cover of the brochure showed a large Victorian house. The title underneath it identified it as Van Dalsum’s School for Witches. The text on the first page read:
Every witch needs not only proper training in magick, but the proper training on how to conduct herself in both the magick and Muggle worlds. At van Dalsum’s, we provide a challenging, all-girl education that prepares witches for life after school…
Elle stopped reading after “all-girl.” Some of her best friends were boys. She couldn’t imagine school without them.
“Anything interesting?” her mother inquired from the other room.
“They spelled ‘magic’ wrong.” She crumpled up the brochure and threw it in the trash can. Elle had received a dozen letters from schools all over the country. It was wasted paper, really. She was going to the New England School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. She had known this nearly all her life. Besides, it wasn’t that bad since they had merged with the school in Connecticut and renovated all the buildings.
Elle flopped back onto the couch and turned her face up towards the fan. It was one of those days where it was so hot thinking was impossible, but Elle’s mind wouldn’t stop running. Today had her last day of fifth grade. All her Muggle friends were talking about moving up to the local middle school, and Elle was left with the one other witch in her class. She didn’t really like Sara, but at least they understood each other. Sara was headed for a school in California and wouldn’t stop talking about it.
“Three months.”
“What, dear?”
“I have three months before my life changes drastically.”
“Oh, Elle, don’t be dramatic.” Mrs. Donovan walked into the living room, the ice in her glass clinking.
Elle got up and walked outside. Her brother’s birthday was yesterday, but his party was in two days, when he came home. That meant she had to get his gift soon.
* * *
“…Happy birthday to you.” The song ended on a discordant note as the dog joined in from outside.
Mrs. Donovan sighed as Elle and her cousins scrambled to pull the candles out of Josh’s cake. The Cardes had brought their dog Alpha with them. Frank and Karen Donovan did not like dogs.
“Why did you bring Alpha with you?” Elle’s mother asked her sister.
“We’re heading straight out on our vacation after the party. We couldn’t leave him at a kennel!” Mrs. Carde replied.
“So you planned your vacation around a dog?”
“Alpha is aptly named, then,” Elle snickered to herself, earning a reproving glance form her mother and a confused one from her aunt.
Mrs. Donovan cut the pieces of cake as another of Elle’s aunts scooped the ice cream. Elle picked up one of the magic candles, relit it with a flick of her finger and watched as the flame turned from yellow to green, to blue, and ran through the colors of the rainbow. When it reached yellow again, she blew it out.
“Elle? Elle.”
“Wha? Oh, um chocolate chip cookie dough, please.” She accepted the cake and ice cream.
When they all had finished their cake, Josh started opening his presents. He received toys and CDs from his friends and cousins, and cards from the aunts and uncles. And, of course, clothes from the adults. Not a birthday went by in the Donovan family that the kids didn’t receive some new article of clothing, be it a robe, cloak, or pair of blue jeans.
When Josh opened Elle’s card, it sprayed confetti all over him. The family laughed as he spit the colorful sparkles out of his mouth. He started to pull the wrapping off his gift. The box opened to reveal…
Another wrapped box, magically the same size as the last box. Josh repeated this three more times before he reached the last box.
“You’ve got some confetti in your hair, hon.” A low, female voice issued out from the box. Josh picked up the mirror and grinned at his own reflection.
“I figured I’d get you a new one ‘cuz Cyprus broke your old one,” Elle explained, referring to her maniacal calico cat.
“It’s great, Elle!” Josh picked a piece of green cellophane out of his hair. The family enjoyed the rest of the night, with the kids playing outside and the adults sitting around the table to talk. The Cardes left early with Alpha to get a head start on their trip.
Elle squirmed her way out of the pig-pile forming and paused to catch her breath and fix her glasses. She always enjoyed her brother’s birthday; it was like a kickoff to summer. She enjoyed her own birthday too, but it was always the harbinger of fall and school days. This year, her birthday would mark the start of Elle’s career at the New England School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
* * *
The summer flew by fast. Elle spent her time hanging out with her friends, at the park or taking trips to the beach. They avoided Cape Cod; it was always too crowded. They would travel to Hampton Beach in New Hampshire or one of the beaches in Maine. Elle much preferred Long Sands, in York, to the more commercialized beaches. Luckily the Cardes lived closer to York.
Strangely enough, Elle’s friends never noticed how much quicker the ride went in Karen’s car. While her friend Brenda’s mother would get stuck in the slowest line at the tolls, Mrs. Donovan would zip right through.
One day, Elle was at Hampton with her closest friend Kevin. They had known each other since they were two, and Kevin was often the unknowing participant in Elle’s magical experiments. That’s why she wasn’t really surprised when he asked her:
“Elle, why, exactly, does your sandcastle last twice as long as everyone else’s?”
She tried to act nonchalant. “What do you mean?”
“The tide is over the bottom of your castle, and it’s still standing. Why?”
“Umm… Good construction?”
“Elle.”
She sighed and looked around. Her mother had gone on a walk and the nearest person was ten feet away, a feat at the crowded beach. She spoke in a low voice so it would be covered by the sound of the waves and the general hubbub of the boardwalk.
“I’m not supposed to tell you this. You probably won’t even believe me.”
“Elle, you can trust me.”
She sighed again. There were rules against telling Muggles you were a witch, but they didn’t say anything about a Muggle figuring it out on his own, did they?
“You remember when we were learning about the Salem witch trials in history, and I said they shouldn’t have blamed the LSD’s effects on witches?”
“I believe your exact words were something like ‘A real witch would have been more creative than some argot.’ You sure knew a lot about it.”
“Heh, heh, yeah.”
“So?”
“Remember that time the teacher lost everyone’s projects the day I forgot to bring mine in third grade?”
“How she lost twenty-three posters, I don’t know.”
“I made her lose them.” Elle got up and started walking to the water.
“How?” Kevin yelled at her retreating back. She could hear his feet hit the dry sand as he ran up behind her. “You’re saying you’re a witch?”
“Hey, you said it, not me!” She splashed into the water.
“No, seriously. You’re a witch?” he asked incredulously.
“I knew you wouldn’t believe me.”
“That’s because there’s no such thing as witches.” By now the water was up to their waists. Elle continued out deeper.
“Are you calling me a liar?”
“You have been known to tell a few… untruths.”
“Only for kicks and giggles. I’m serious about this.” She hoped the look on her face conveyed her sincerity. The water now reached her neck. “Watch.”
She swam a few more feet out despite Kevin’s warnings of strong undertow. When the water was high enough to cover her head, she stopped swimming and turned around. She looked expectantly at Kevin, whose eyes were wide open and was struggling to keep his nose above the water. Elle was effortlessly floating vertically without moving her arms or legs at all.
“Okay sppt… how’d you do that?” He spit the salty water out of his mouth.
“Magic.”
Suddenly Elle’s head slipped beneath the waves. She came up sputtering and paddled her way to shallower water.
“I’m not very good yet. That’s why I’m not going to school with you next year.”
Kevin just continued looking at her with the same wide-eyed expression.
“I don’t have a wand yet, either. And I’m going to have to get some robes.”
Kevin recovered from his shock as they walked back to their chairs. “Whoa, wait. You need a wand and robes? Could you get any more clichéd?”
“Yeah, probably.”
He shook his head. “But what does this have to do with you not going to school next year?”
“Oh, I’m going to school. It’s a wizarding school, so I can become a full-fledged witch.”
“Why do you have to go to a wizarding school if you’re a witch?”
“Guys are wizards. Girls are witches. Due to the chauvinistic English language, it’s all clumped under ‘wizardry’. Unless you’re being politically correct and add ‘witchcraft’ but that takes too long to say.”
Kevin digested that. “Oh.”
He continued asking questions that Elle was glad she could finally answer until Mrs. Donovan returned. She didn’t remark on the sudden quietness of the two kids. They returned home soon after, and Elle spent the remainder of the summer performing simple spells at Kevin’s request.
* * *
The day of Elle’s birthday was a typical August day in New England: hot, humid, and hazy. The sky was almost cloudless but held the promise of a thunderstorm. Elle was glad her house was shaded. Even without air conditioning, her living room was merely 85 degrees, not the ninety of the outdoors. She lay down on the floor right under the ceiling fan.
“Elle! Get up!”
“Ma, it’s my birthday! I don’t wanna move if I don’t have too. It’s too hot.”
“Well, fine. If you don’t want to help frost your cake…”
Elle peeled herself off the carpet and walked to the kitchen. She had insisted on chocolate cake with chocolate frosting this year. Mrs. Donovan was reluctant to serve that much cocoa at once, but gave in as it was an important birthday.
The writing was simple: “Happy 11th Birthday Elle”. There were eleven dots of white frosting where the candles would go. She hadn’t requested any fancy decoration, as it would just get eaten anyways.
“Mom, why do you always make a cake by hand?”
“Well, you know my mother was Muggle.”
“Yeah,”
“She always made our birthday cakes. She wouldn’t let your papa anywhere near them. She taught me how to make them when I was younger. Any cake I’ve made with magic never taste as good. There are some things Muggles are better at than witches or wizards.”
“Tell me about it. Kevin beats me all the time at cards. Even if I cheat.”
“Elle! You shouldn’t cheat.”
She shrugged. “Whatever.”
Later that night, after the cake and ice cream, Elle sat in the living room (fan on) surrounded by her relatives and opened her presents. She received a few Muggle books, mainly mysteries. She also received a few books of spells and potions. One of these was simple ways to make even the worst potion taste good. Having imprudently attempted a few, she knew this would come in handy.
She also received a set of cauldrons and a few robes in her favorite colors, green and blue. However, the best gift by far came from her parents.
“We didn’t think your gift would make it through the day, it’s so hot.”
“Da-ad, she said, with her hands on her hips.
Her mother, who was standing behind her, put a leather glove on her left hand. Elle didn’t notice this; she was trying to peer around the corner to see where her dad had disappeared to. Mrs. Donovan stuck out her hand and whistled. A large bird flew across the room and alit on her extended hand to the oohs and ahhs of the family.
“A red-tail! Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you!” She jumped up and hugged her father, who had returned holding a big cage. She ran to her mother and tried to hug her without crushing the hawk.
“What are you going to name it?” her cousin Matt asked.
“Tobias,” she announced without a moment of hesitation. A murmur of approval went around the room.
That night, Elle fell asleep with a smile on her face and a leather glove on her hand.
* * *
The next morning, Elle awoke to a gray sky and the patter of fat raindrops. Glancing at the clock, she saw she had slept late again. A flash of lightning illuminated the soggy landscape outside her window, and the following thunder rattled the glass. She yawned and stretched, smiling when she felt the glove encasing her hand. She turned to look at the hawk preening himself in his cage.
“Mornin’, Tobias,” she said sleepily. He briefly returned her gaze and went back to preening. Elle swung her legs onto the floor and stumbled out of her room. A look in the mirror didn’t dampen her happy mood as she tried to tame her hair. Wondering why everything was blurry, she squinted at her reflection. Oh, right. Glasses. Those help, she thought.
As she walked back to her room, she tried to run a hand through her tangled hair. It was growing out from a rather short cut and was currently very bushy. Only many minutes of brushing and conditioning made it lie flat. She couldn’t wait for it to be longer, so it wouldn’t stick out sideways.
Elle made her way downstairs and flopped onto her kitchen chair. Mrs. Donovan slid a bagel, a pack of cream cheese, and a knife in front of her.
“Eat up, Elle. Today we’re going to Hanslow Street to pick up your school stuff, and I want to get an early start.”
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